Jury Acquits Sanford Man In Shooting Death

June 16, 1986|By Leslie Kemp of The Sentinel Staff

SANFORD — A Sanford hotel manager was acquitted late Friday in the shooting death of a Sanford man and the gunshot injury of the victim's son.

A six-member jury deliberated 30 minutes before returning the verdict in the case of George Cleveland Morris, 37, charged with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery.

There was no dispute that Morris killed Garfield Irwin of Sanford in the early hours of Dec. 24 at the McAllister Hotel, 2102 Southwest Road.

Irwin, who was shot twice in the chest and once in the leg, drove away from the motel but passed out and crashed into a nearby grocery store.

Morris claimed that he acted in self-defense. However, a prosecutor charged that Morris could have avoided the shooting by taking different actions.

Irwin died following an argument with Morris at the hotel, stemming from an incident between Morris and Irwin's son, Phillip Ford, 21, of Sanford.

Earlier in the evening, Morris had stopped a fight between Ford and Ford's cousin, a hotel resident. Ford, who said Morris hit him on the head with a gun, said he returned to the hotel with Irwin to confront Morris.

Morris testified Friday that he tried to fire warning shots to scare Irwin and Ford away. He said one of the shots apparently ricocheted, hitting Ford in the mouth. Ford was treated at a Sanford hospital.

Morris testified that he felt he had no choice but to shoot Irwin to protect himself.